David Shepard (SK)
Staff Commander David Shepard, born April 11, 2154 David Jeremiah Shepard III to Hannah Shepard and David Jeremiah Shepard II, was an N7 Earth Systems Alliance Senior Officer and Agent of the Citadel Council's Office of Special Tactics & Recon during the Reaper War, and is in large part the sole reason the Milky Way Galaxy is still standing after eons of oppression by the Reaper threat. He is one of the most decorated veterans in the Systems Alliance Navy, with every medal they bestow on his mantlepiece, including the elusive Star of Terra, and has fought in over 500 ground engagements during his service to humanity. Pre-Service History Born on Arcturus Station both of Shepard's parents were in the Navy. Growing up, Shepard was never in one place for more than a month as his parents moved from posting to posting, he also didn't get to know them very well. Shepard didn't make any long-term friends, anybody he grew close to was ripped away from him at the last second. Friendship was hard to come by living the spacer life. At some point between 2154 and 2170, Shepard was exposed to element zero in utero. The exact details of his exposure remain classified, but it has been speculated that Cerberus may have had a hand in it. At the age of 18, sometime after April in 2172 and prior to 2173, Shepard enlisted in the Alliance Navy as an officer. The aspiring Lieutenant went for the "N" MVC rating, being selected out of a pool of 750 candidates for the Interplanetary Combatives Academy, one of only 300. During his training he was one of the least physically adept, and was usually well behind in the ratings, but when it came to leadership, Shepard excelled the most. Out of 300 only 150 made their N1 and were invited to return. Shepard, at first, contemplated not returning, but the Gunnery Chief managed to convince him otherwise, seeing something inside him that none of the other marines had. Shepard was one of only 116 to return for further N7 evaluation. Shepard, once again, didn't do too stellar in zero-G combat, or jet-pack flight, but just as the gunnery instructor had pointed out, Shepard was a natural leader, excelling in team-building exercises, combat instruction, and front-line trauma control, excelling in both human and alien biology. Shepard's strong point other than leadership skills was combat diving and military free-fall where he was taught the proper position of reentry should he find himself in a situation where he is injured and in free-fall, the program focused on atmospheric reentry from the upper atmosphere of a planet. It was during one of these exercises that Shepard's chute failed to open on him due to a general hardware failure. Luckily for him, Shepard's dormant biotic abilities were awoken, and was able to, at that last minute, generate enough dark energy to cushion his fall, walking away with only a few broken ribs, a broken arm, and a broken wrist. Shepard was designated a veteran in leadership skills, and atmospheric reentry, and was recommended for the Ascension program to further develop his biotic abilities. By the end of his training, he was one of only 33 Alliance personnel to attain the N7 rating, the other 83 being wash-outs, 28 of which had been killed in the grueling training exercises. Early Career and First Missions In 2174, upon getting his N7 designation, the Lieutenant was sent to the colony of Midgard to investigate batarian incursions into the system on the edge of the Alliance space. Shepard, along with two N5 special forces personnel and a battalion of other spec ops of various ratings, discovered the batarians were preparing for an offensive in the system, which could potentially result in full-scale war. Shepard and his strike team were sent to the Titan station in low orbit, which had been hijacked by the batarians to use its orbital defense cannon against the colony's defenses, while the rest of the special forces and Alliance marines were dropped on the ground to defend the colony. Shepard and his team single-handedly disabled the cannon, which resulted in the destruction of the station, but the safety of the colony. Shepard was commended for his acts of bravery, and the other two N5's were given designations of N7 for their contributions to the conflict. Throughout the rest of the year, into 2175, Shepard fought in numerous ground engagements against the Khar'shan Hegemony, many of which were isolated skirmishes or small scale battles, but with each cumulative victory, Shepard added a medal or two to his mantle piece, and another tally or five to his confirmed kills. Shepard, unlike most other soldiers, didn't take pride in killing, he hated it. He remarked many times how if he could save lives without having to kill another batarian, he would. This generated a lot of distrust and disrespect towards him from the lower echelons, but the brass, Admiral Hackett in particular, looked up to him as a beacon of hope, that someday, the civilizations of the galaxy might one day look at humans as paragons of good deeds and teachers, for as deadly as Shepard was with a gun, he'd grown into a man of wisdom and philosophy, an open-minded, free-spirited leader with which to show the galaxy what humans could be. In September of 2176, the colony of Elysium was attacked by the Hegemony. Shepard had been on vacation to the moons of Saturn, when the attack hit. In under 48 hours nearly all of the Elysium marines stationed there were wiped out, Frontier Divisions from all neighboring colonies were called in to assist, including those in the Sol System, of which Shepard was on leave with. Illyria, the capital, was the most heavily targeted, and had the most heavily fortified AA. Batarian strike teams entered the city limits at oh-eight hundred, and Alliance reinforcements were sent in to defend the AA at oh-eight thirty. The batarian objective was to bring the AA guns down to allow their superior fleet a straight shot at the capital, since the ground forces were being pounded, but the fleet was taking the most hits. Shepard and a squad of N7 commandos were dropped in from orbit, where they launched preemptive strikes against batarian commandos occupying the AA emplacements. About three hours later, around eleven-hundred, Shepard's squad had been either killed, or taken out of the fight with crippling injuries, Shepard was the last man standing in the defense of Illyria. Shepard personally manned the AA gun, taking out at least a dozen batarian interceptors, and at least a handful more under the fighter classification, before they decided their attacks were futile, and their fleet had taken at least three/fourths the damage they were dishing out to the Alliance. With no other alternative in sight, the Hegemony, pirate, and Blue Suns fleets pulled out, resulting in a victory for the Alliance. Shepard received the Star of Terra for his unparalleled, selfless acts of bravery and sacrifice, along with this he received a Purple Heart and an assortment of other medals and commendations, as well as a promotion to Lieutenant Commander, skipping the rank of Staff Lieutenant. Later Career In early 2176, prior to the Skyllian Blitz, Shepard was accepted into Jon Grissom Academy's Ascension Program. He was given a four-year leave to perfect his biotic abilities and hone them. When the Blitz occurred, his studies were interrupted, and he had to return afterwards and continue. For the next four years, up until 2180, Shepard practiced his biotics, it was here that he met Kaidan Alenko, prior to being transferred to the SSV Normandy in 2181. Throughout 2181 and 2182 Shepard and a squad of biotic commandos, including 2nd Lieutenant Alenko, operated throughout the Sol System and surrounding colonies assisting colonists in fending off subsequent pirate attacks, which ranged from Blue Suns to Eclipse, mainly Blue Suns due to the high number of batarians they employ, many of which sought revenge for the Skyllian Blitz. In 2183, Shepard was called back to the Normandy after a 6 month shore leave visiting friends and family back on Earth for a shakedown on Eden Prime. Upon arriving back at the Normandy, he discovered an 'air' about the ship that was different, changed even. The presence of a Council Spectre, Nihlus, didn't make things easier on him. The Commander, along with Private Richard Jenkins and Navigator Pressly, began to suspect that it was far more than a simple shakedown.